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Pune Municipal Corporation mulls swab collection centres in hotspots
At present, first contacts of any positive person in the area are housed in Rakshaknagar, Kharadi, 15 km away
The Pune Municipal Corporation is considering setting up swab collection centres in coronavirus hotspots in the central part of the city for people’s convenience, commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad said on Saturday.
Gaikwad and other PMC officials visited hotspots in areas including Patil Estate, Kaamgaar putla, Tadiwala road and Laxmi Nagar in Yerawada.
“During our interaction, several people demanded that swab collection centres be set up in their areas as it would be convenient for them,” Gaikwad said.
Once their swabs were taken for coronavirus test, they could stay at nearby schools or marriage halls which the civic body has requisitioned and isolate themselves till the results arrives, people told the officials.
The administration is also considering taking over civic schools and marriage halls to house those who await the test results for quarantine purpose. At present, first contacts of any positive person in the area are housed in Rakshaknagar, Kharadi, 15 km away.
“The people who test negative come home a day after and those who test positive proceed to isolation facilities,” he said.
But many people resist being shifted to an area which is away from their homes.
“To make it convenient for people, we will think of setting up swab collection centre in their own areas and after the swab collection, they can be shifted to the nearest school or marriage hall for quarantiningprocess,” Gaikwad said.
“Living near their homes will be comfortable for them,” he said.
The civic body will also use 300 pulse oximeters to officials who are conducting screening in hotspot areas to identify severe Covid-19 cases. Pulse oximeter, measures the oxygen saturation of the patient’s blood, as it has been observed that Covid-19 patients tend to have lower blood oxygen levels. The test is not confirmatory but it can help detect people with low blood oxygen levels who can then be tested further for virus infection.
